Boroughs & Burbs #67 ||Everything is Bigger in Texas! All About Texas Real Estate
By John Engel
Everythings Bigger in Texas!
All About Texas Real Estate
a look at the some of the hottest markets in the nation. featuring Texas President Catherine Lee & Owner/SLA Jacob Sudoff
Catherine Lee, President of Douglas Elliman Texas. Before capitalizing in real estate, Catherine owned, operated, and franchised 22 Applebee’s statewide and managed a 70-manager team with 1,300 employees. Since 2010 Catherine has partnered with Jacob to create the dominant Texas brokerage, now in 4 cities.
Jacob Sudhoff, Owner/Senior Leadership Advisor of Douglas Elliman Texas, got his license at 18, started his own Houston brokerage in his early 20’s, and grew it with Catherine over the next decade until it had 85% market share. Their success in planning, designing & procuring residential projects allowed them to create a niche in luxury high-density residential development.
We are in Texas for episode #67 of Boroughs & Burbs to talk with the leaders who built a dominant market share as the Sudhoff Companies before partnering with Douglas Elliman in 2019.
Why Texas? Texas has emerged as one of the most important, fast-growing markets in the country over the last decade so we want to know why and will it last? Some of the questions we’ll ask these two guests:
2. Politics. When asked why he moved from California Joe Rogan said it was about “Freedom”. Catherine, you said to me that Texas is “famously purple” Certainly politics is a factor is why people choose to move but would you say its a major draw and why?
3. Businesses are moving. Chevron, Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, Oracle and Amazon are just a few of the high-profile businesses moving their headquarters to Texas. It seems most of the migration is from California, and technology-related. I have to add that New York City is also proud to be welcoming Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple. Those 4 companies took 3+ million feet in Manhattan in 2020. Talk about the impact of these corporate moves on the real estate market and the impact of technology in particular.
5. Future Growth. Dallas and Houston are long-established as centers for technology, finance and energy. Many think the Texas economy moves up and down with the price of oil. Does Austin grow because of the University of Texas? Is San Antonio next? Let’s talk about what the future looks like for the Texas market and what is driving that phenomenon.
John Engel – John Engel can be found at http://www.JohnEngel.com. He is a consistently top-producing agent in Fairfield County, Connecticut. John recently won the Realtor of the Year Award in New Canaan where he is has been Chairman of the Town Council and is currently a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission. John also brings an insight into internet-based marketing that is unsurpassed. Before going into real estate he was the founder of two successful internet businesses, Paper.com and e-Media for which he won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award. John spent his earliest years in Stuyvesant Town in lower Manhattan and went to New Canaan High School before attending Davidson College in North Carolina. After graduating, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army and spent some time leading a military intelligence platoon on the front lines of the first Gulf War. He currently lives in New Canaan with his wife Melissa and four children. In addition to hosting this podcast on the market each week, John Engel produces an easy-to-understand and in-depth monthly market analysis called the Market Report for the 16 towns of lower Fairfield County.
Roberto Cabrera – Roberto can be found at http://www.RobertoCabrera.com. With 24 years of experience, I have been recognized throughout the industry for achieving outstanding results: Ranked nationally by REAL Trends as one of “America’s Best Real Estate Agents” for avg. sales price of $4.350M. Sold a single family Townhouse faster than any other on the Upper West Side over $10M. I live with my wife and daughter on the Upper West Side, the neighborhood I have called home for the past 23 years. I was originally born in Richmond, Virginia and grew up in Maryland, just one mile south of the Mason Dixon line. After graduating with a degree in Mathematical Economics from Hampden-Sydney College, the 10th oldest school in the country, I spent 5 years in Washington, DC working as a financial consultant. I also studied at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and I’m a former actor who once moonlighted as a stand-up comedian. Many years ago, I authored APPLE PIE – The Real Ingredients for Buying and Selling Your Slice.
